I. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for managing product returns. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for managing product returns using decision codes as control instruments for processing the product returns.
II. Background Information
Software and computer-implemented management systems have not only become commonplace, but are nearly indispensable to businesses large and small. For example, in sales, such systems may be used to manage the various aspects of a sale, from customer account information to inventory, product movement, scheduling, and shipping information. While these systems are often quite efficient for tracking sales information and managing customer accounts, they are often inefficient in tracking other information necessary for the accurate resolution of returns.
The management of product returns from customer account management involves the accurate exchange of information between various entities and/or employees, such as shipping companies, warehouse employees, and account managers. For example, a customer relationship management (CRM) module may manage the customers account from authorization of a return request to issuing of credit, while a warehouse management (WM) module may manage the physical handling of returns and other items within the warehouse.
Despite such advances, current systems and methods for managing product returns suffer from several drawbacks. For example, current solutions do not provide for the efficient handling or transferring of information for product returns. This is particularly a problem where multiple management systems are involved and the relevant information must be transferred between different systems. Also, there is a problem in the art in that present methods and systems for managing product returns cannot insure for the consistent processing and handling of a product return by, for example, a customer relationship management system and a warehouse management system. Such systems must insure that once a product has been returned, the returning customer's account is accurately updated to reflect the true disposition of the returned product. Efficient and accurate accounting of this information requires proper handling of the return and communication between the different software packages and computerized management systems, which, to date, is unavailable.